The flowers of the dogbane, though small and inconspicuous are very beautiful if closely examined. The deep pink veining of the corolla suggests nectar, and the insect-visitor is not misled, for at its base are five nectar-bearing glands. The two long, slender seed-pods which result from a single blossom seem inappropriately large, often appearing while the plant is still in flower. Rafinesque states that from the stems may be obtained a thread similar to hemp which can be woven into cloth, from the pods, cotton, and from the blossoms, sugar. Its generic and one of its English titles arose from the belief, which formerly prevailed, that it was poisonous to dogs. The plant is constantly found growing in roadside thickets, with bright, pretty foliage, and blossoms that appear in early summer.
Hedge Bindweed.
Convolvulus Americanus. Convolvulus Family.
Stem.—Twining or trailing. Leaves.—Somewhat arrow-shaped. Flowers.—Pink. Calyx.—Of five sepals enclosed in two broad leafy bracts. Corolla.—Five-lobed, bell-shaped. Stamens.—Five. Pistil.—One, with two stigmas.
Many an unsightly heap of rubbish left by the roadside is hidden by the delicate pink bells of the hedge bindweed, which again will clamber over the thickets that line the streams and about the tumbled stone-wall that marks the limit of the pasture. The pretty flowers at once suggest the morning-glory, to which they are closely allied.
The common European bindweed, C. arvensis, has white or pinkish flowers, without bracts beneath the calyx, and a low procumbent or twining stem. It has taken possession of many of our old fields where it spreads extensively and proves troublesome to farmers.
Purple-flowering Raspberry.
Rubus odoratus. Rose Family.
Stem.—Shrubby, three to five feet high; branching, branches bristly and glandular. Leaves.—Three to five-lobed, the middle lobe prolonged. Flowers.—Purplish-pink, large and showy, two inches broad. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—Of five rounded petals. Stamens and Pistils.—Numerous. Fruit.—Reddish, resembling the garden raspberry.
PLATE LXVIII
PURPLE-FLOWERING RASPBERRY.—R. odoratus.
This flower betrays its relationship to the wild rose, and might easily be mistaken for it, although a glance at the undivided leaves would at once correct such an error. The plant is a decorative one when covered with its showy blossoms, constantly arresting our attention along the wooded roadsides in June and July.